Dec 10, 2018 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
The theme this month is “thankfulness and gratitude.”
I was really excited to begin this project, because my new Stampin’ Up! order was just delivered to my doorstep. Because I didn’t attend the Stampin’ Up! OnStage Convention in Orlando last month, this was the first time I would see the new Occasions and Sale-A-Bration products in person. I told myself I needed to finish addressing my Christmas cards first, but could I wait? No!
Gratitude
I couldn’t wait to see the Well Said stamp set, and Well Written die set, because I knew this bundle would have the perfect words for my card, expressing thankfulness and gratitude. The first thing I cut was the word “thanks,” closely followed by this fabulous foliage, both from the Well Written die set. Don’t they look pretty in Soft Sea Foam?
Then, I used my Stampin’ Trimmer to cut a rectangle of Mint Macaron cardstock for placing the “thanks” and foliage. I would have used one of my Rectangle Stitched dies, but I hadn’t opened it……..yet! To give the Mint Macaron some texture, I used the Subtle Textured embossing folder.
Ahhh, the Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper; it’s GORGEOUS! And, to think it’s FREE with a 50.00 order! Of course, I had ordered the Butterfly Duet Punch, and punched out three of the most beautiful, Balmy Blue butterflies. They were, conveniently, right on the edge of the DSP, and are now fluttering around atop Mini-Dimensionals.
I duplicated the colors with a Mint Macaron card base, topped with a layer of Soft Sea Foam, embossed by Layered Leaves. The Very Vanilla envelope flap is decorated with a strip of the the wonderful, Botanical Butterfly DSP, 2 1/4″ X 5 3/4″, and trimmed to fit.
For the inside, I opened my new Rectangle Stitched Dies, and cut a piece of Soft Sea Foam for the sentiment. “My life is better because you’re in it,” is perfect for expressing my gratitude to this loved one. And, there’s still room for a personal note.
The floral sprig is also in the Well Written die set, which I cut from a scrap of Balmy Blue, Tranquil Textures DSP.
I was inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches:
And, the colors at TGIF:
I’m looking forward to sharing numerous projects with you from Occasions and Sale-A-Bration 2019. Demonstrators can order now, and customers can order Jan. 3rd. You can take a closer look at the supplies I used today in my Product List.
Thanks so much for visiting!
Product List
Dec 10, 2018 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
What Will You Stamp? is featuring the Making Christmas Bright stamp set this week. It happens to have a twin stamp set, Making Every Day Bright, that expands the use of the fabulous Christmas Bulb Builder Punch.
Christmas Bulbs
I first stamped three bulbs in Real Red ink, and two in Garden Green ink on Whisper White cardstock, and then had the fun of punching them out. To make them extra “bright,” I stamped them in Versamark, sprinkled them with Clear Embossing Powder, and shot them with my Heat Tool. Can you see how they sparkle?
The bulbs needed a pretty place to hang, so I found this great branch in the Night Owl die set. I used Wood Textures DSP, and layered the branch with cardstock to give it thickness. Then, I arranged the bulbs, and glued them to the back of the branch.
For the background, I chose a piece of Under the Mistletoe Designer Series Paper, and ran it through the Big Shot with the Corrugated embossing folder.
The sentiment, “Sending warm wishes your way,” is from the Still Night stamp set, and cut with a Night Owl die.
Challenges are great for inspiration, so I’m sharing one of my last Christmas cards of the season with Paper Players and Festive Friday.
I hope you enjoyed my Christmas Bulbs card. Thank you for stopping by. Now, it’s your turn to add your Making Christmas Bright project to our gallery. Clicking on this picture of the stamp set will take you there. Have fun!
Product List
Dec 9, 2018 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
Christmas is around the corner, so today the Kre8tors Blog Hop is all about Christmas. I’m sharing some small gift packaging that is “quick & easy.” These are Mini Pizza Boxes, which come flat, 8 in a package. All you have to do is fold them together. You’ll find them in my Stampin’ Up! Product List at the bottom of this post.
Mini Pizza Boxes
Who doesn’t like pizza? Actually, the boxes are too small for pizza; at least for the amount I like to eat. But the size, 3 1/2″ X 3 1/2,” is perfect for small gifts, and can be decorated as your heart desires.
For decorating, I chose 3 patterns of Dash Along Designer Series Paper, cutting the top piece (3 1/4″ X 3 1/4″) and four sides 3 1/4″ X 3/4″.
Then, I cut three deer (Detailed Deer die) from Wood Textures Designer Series Paper, and layered them with Gray Granite cardstock for thickness.
After gluing the DSP and deer to the three boxes, all that remained was ribbon to keep the recipients from peeking. I selected three different ties: Polka Dot Tulle, Garden Green & White Baker’s Twine, and Braided Linen Trim.
How will I use my Mini Pizza Boxes? Since I love Essential Oils, I enjoy giving Young Living oils as gifts. Valor was the first oil I used four years ago, and remains one of my favorites. Not only does it have a fabulous fragrance, it gives me confidence on the tennis court. This little box is the perfect size for holding it!
Because my Product List is short, I pictured the Stampin’ Trimmer, which I use every, single day. It’s lightweight and easy to use, making measuring and cutting a breeze. It doesn’t fit in the Mini Pizza Box, but it would make a great gift for someone.
Thanks so much for checking out my blog at this very busy time of year. Now, continue hopping to see all of the fun, Christmas projects the Kre8tors want to share with you. Just click the “next” button to go to Cheryl Hamilton’s blog. You can also see the name list below. Merry Christmas!
December Christmas Inspiration for Kre8tors Blog Hop
Linda Handford
Tricia Butts
Pia Gerhardt
Jacqui Lawrence
Sandra Roberts
Tracy Marie Lewis
Su Mohr
Cheryl Hamilton
Deb Naylor
Ximena Morales
Eva Potts
Kathy Maurer
Dorothee Buhn
Ilonka Schneider
Rebecca-Jo Unwin
Jan Musselman
Janey Backer
Sharon Dalton
Sue McDonald
Jacqueline Schilder
Cheryl Taylor
Annette Elias
Laura Kate Mackie
Alexandra Rauf
Jackie Lawless
Product List
Dec 8, 2018 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
I’ve been busy with Christmas cards, but it was time to design a birthday card. The Merry Christmas die set was at my fingertips, so I was “happy” to see I could use the “Happy” die for my sentiment. Isn’t it nice to know that the Merry Christmas die set can be used beyond Christmas?
“Happy” birthday card
Wood Textures DSP was used for cutting “happy,” and I added two layers of cardstock to make it realistic.
TIP: I used retired Tip Top Taupe cardstock for layering. It makes good use of a retired color, and Tip Top Taupe blends with the Wood Textures DSP.
To complete the sentiment, I found “birthday” in the Thoughtful Banners stamp set. I stamped the word in Mossy Meadow ink on Pear Pizzazz cardstock, and cut it with a Bunch of banners die.
While waiting for my Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog shipment, I revisited one of my favorite Designer Series Paper collections, Share What You Love. It was hard deciding the color for the card base, because this multi-colored floral looks nice with a number of colors. I ended up using Mossy Meadow, one of our “neutral” colors. Before gluing the Share What you Love DSP to the cardbase, I turned it into fabric with the Subtle Textured Embossing Folder.
For the final detail, I added three little Share What You Love Artisan Pearls.
My inspiration for this birthday card was this week’s CAS(E) this sketch.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my discovery of “Happy,” and seeing that this Merry Christmas die set can go beyond Christmas. It has two label dies that will come in handy also. You’ll find it in my Product List below. Thanks for stopping by!
Product List
Dec 4, 2018 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
Today’s card for mass producing is one where I “CASE” myself. What does that mean? It means I copy and selectively edit.
“CASED” myself
This is the original that I made back in August.
Merry Christmas to All Sneak Peek
Merry Christmas To All Sneak Peek
If you look closely at today’s card, you can see the top layer of Whisper White cardstock is missing. I used the Softly Falling embossing folder to emboss the entire folded card. This worked out really well, because it flattened the card beautifully, eliminating the need to use a bone folder. I used my self-inking signature stamp first, and the embossing didn’t interfere with it too much.
It did make the inside a bit bumpy though, so I added the layer of Whisper White cardstock to the inside, after stamping the sentiment in Real Red ink. I like this sentiment from the Star of Light stamp set, which wishes the recipients a “bright new year.”
If you prefer not having all the texture, you could emboss just the card front, as I did on yesterday’s card. Here’s the link for reference:
TIPS For Mass Producing A Card
The original card used Wood Textured DSP for the word “Christmas.” To make the word thicker, I used a layer of cardstock, which was time consuming. I decided to have a silver color scheme for today’s card, instead of brown, and cut the word “Christmas” from Galvanized Metallic Paper. It’s nice and thick, and made the job “quick & easy.” Don’t forget to save the dot for your “i.”
I stamped the word “merry” in Real Red ink, all in a row, and used the die from the Merry Christmas die set for cutting. I placed three Mini-Dimensionals on each “merry,” and not having to snip pieces from larger dimensionals is a real time saver.
Then, I stamped the Dashing Deer in Smoky Slate ink, and used his die for cutting. I couldn’t resist giving him some extra shine with Wink of Stella. It only took a few minutes to swipe each one. He’ll receive three Mini-Dimensionals also.
The Pretty Pines die set provided the pine boughs in Lemon Lime Twist and Color Me Clover cardstock, and the berries in Real Red. I’m cutting all three on scraps to save time and paper. I’ll make appropriately sized strips to cut the three at a time for the remaining quantity.
My stack of 22 cards is almost complete!
I’m sharing this with Global Design Project, because it definitely fits their theme, “Tis the Season.
I hope this gives you some time-saving ideas. “It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.” Thanks for stopping by!
Product List
Dec 3, 2018 | Gallery, Hand-Crafted Cards |
It’s December 2nd, and the time has come to start mass producing a few of my favorite Christmas cards. Over the last few months, I’ve designed 60 unique Christmas cards, but I need to mail twice that number. After looking through my collection, I chose this one that you may recall.
Merry Christmas Sequins & Glimmer
Merry Christmas Glimmer
I selected this card for several reasons: (1) It was well received by my stamping friends. (2) I had all of the supplies. (3) It would be fairly easy to replicate.
MY PROCESS
1. Commit to making 20. It’s a good number for mass producing, because you can complete the job without becoming tired of it.
2. Start with the supply where you could possibly run short. In this case it was the Frosted Floral DSP, I had just enough for 20 strips, 5″ X 1 1/2.”
3. Cut 20 strips of Soft Sea Foam cardstock, 1/8″ larger.
4. Cut 20 of the word Christmas from Sparkle Glimmer Paper. Remember to save the dot for the “i.” You’ll see it is missing from my original card.
5. Take a break from cutting, and glue the two strips and the word together.
6. Cut 10 pieces of Thick Whisper White cardstock in half, and score at 4 1/4,” but don’t fold yet.
7. Run the Woodland embossing folder through the Big Shot directly on the card front. Eliminating the layer saves paper and time.
8. While the card is flat, stamp the back with your signature. I really like the ease of my self-inking stamp.
You can go to Personalzation mall.com and search self-inking address stamps, if you’re interested.
9. Now, you can fold, and I recommend a bone folder to make it nice and flat.
10. Cut 20 Sea Foam, and 20 Mint Macaron branches using the die from Frosted Bouquet, and glue on each corner of the embossed card front. This is the most tedious part, so take breaks.
11. Stamp 20 of the word “merry” in Mint Macaron ink on Thick Whisper White cardstock, and use the Merry Christmas die for cutting.
12. Glue the “Christmas” strip and “merry” to the embossed card front.
13. Stamp 20 of the inside sentiment (Dashing Deer stamp set) in Mint Macaron ink on Whisper White cardstock, and use a Stitched Shapes square die for cutting, then glue in place. I find this much less stressful than stamping directly on the card.
14. Apply 6 sequins; 3 on the top and 3 on the bottom. It’s amazing how one tiny spot of Tombow Liquid Glue holds a sequin in place.
Here are my 20 cards letting the sequins dry. The sun is back out in San Diego.
Twenty down, forty to go. Thinking about the people who will be receiving the cards makes the time pass quickly.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Click on the link to my original card to see the supply list. (Dazzling Diamonds Paper is now Sparkle Glimmer Paper.) Have a great day!
